RE: Gettin my first deer rifle.
Several very good points have been made!
Don' t rule out the 308 Winchester. I' ve got the same delima as you right now (except it won' t be my first rifle), and I' m taking a serious look a the 308.
Also, the 30-06 would serve you well too.
The greatest advice was to get the best deal. Inside of 250-300 yds., all of these perform almost identically on deer with proper bullet construction, giving you very quick kills.
Furthermore, you can step up in calliber to the heavy 30-06, 7 Mag, 300 Win class of rifle for an all-around North American big game rifle. Recoil does bother some people, like myself, but you can get a recoil pad for around $30 that seems to cut felt fecoil in half. Pachmayer is a good brand.
I think bullet construction is just as important as calliber, and you may want to start a thread on that if you have any questions. All of these choices that have been mentioned are GREAT for your intended purposes, but with the wrong bullet choice, may be highly uneffective. Just look at the 270 and 243 topics which are going right now.
Good luck hunting whatever you decide.